


Hyacinths To Ashes

by Aston (AstonT)



Series: Hyacinths To Ashes [1]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: I don't know how to tag this, Kuroko and Mayuzumi are friends, Regret, cold Kuroko, slight AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2019-01-05 03:02:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12181644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AstonT/pseuds/Aston
Summary: In the aftermath of the Teiko match, and with the help of a new friend, Kuroko begins to understand that he doesn't need to forgive his old team. He just needs to make amends with his own part in his past and move on.





	Hyacinths To Ashes

**Author's Note:**

> *Written for one of my tumblr friends as a gift, as we got to discussing how much we enjoy the darker Kuroko stories.

Something within Kuroko's mind had snapped closed when he got a look at the score during the Meiko game.  
_  
Of course_ , the one game that meant something to him, he had to be injured. 

And of course, that one game, the request for it to be played seriously instead of with the disgusting tactics that the Generation of Miracles players had picked up had been twisted into 'play with them and crush their souls'. 

And that's exactly what brought him here - after visiting Meiko and seeing the entire team disbanded and Ogiwara not there and not answering his calls or messages - to be stood in front of the other Miracles with his eyes far colder than they used to be. 

Not that any of them seemed to notice. 

"I'm quitting, Akashi-kun. I thought I'd be the one to tell you in person rather than pass it along with someone else,"  
Immediate silence fell and Akashi looked away from where he had been talking with Aomine to give their Phantom a strange look. "No, you aren't." he responded calmly, waving the words off. 

Midorima watched with furrowed brows as Kuroko drug his team jacket out and let it fall to the floor between himself and them. "I quit," he repeated, tone a perfect deadpan - something the boy had never managed yet. 

And he walked away without giving any of them time to react. 

Akashi stared after him with a dark look, but didn't bother to call him back. 

"You're going to let him walk away?" Kise asked in surprise. 

Akashi hummed his agreement. "We have no need for someone who can't keep up," he remarked, and the topic was dropped and pushed aside as unimportant. 

Midorima waited until he was on his way home to text Nijimura about the new happenings, then let it die out from his mind as well - there was something about it all that irked him, but he didn't care enough to focus on it. 

No response ever came from the old captain, which served just fine.

* * *

Kuroko stared blankly at his phone upon seeing the message that had shown up from Nijimura that morning - finally, he had a break from having to be around the other Miracles, and he gets a text from their old captain. 

' _Heard you quit the team. I won't ask what they did, because honestly, kid, I thought you'd quit sooner. I do apologize for not being able to stop them, though, whatever happened. Tell me when you figure out where you're going for high school_.'

Kuroko debated for a while, staring between his phone and the collection of now-broken picture frames at his feet.

Eventually, he did get around to offering a return message of ' _it wasn't your fault, I'll let you know_ ', then returned to his usual day-to-day routine. 

Except... he didn't really have one anymore. 

He'd become so used to having to work himself sick to keep up with the other Miracles, so now he found himself with a lot of time on his hands. 

And so, he settled into clearing up some of the glass shards, placing the pictures in their now-broken frames back on the wall - he wasn't overly bothered with the idea of having to explain what had happened to the frames to his family.

* * *

The rest of the time before the beginning of his first year in high school passed with little incident - he'd been careful to only respond to Nijimura and Momoi when they messaged him, but his messages stayed short and didn't offer much information at first glance. 

But he knew that the other two would be able to read into what he wasn't saying to glean information they needed. 

As soon as he knew where he was going, he'd taken care to send a message to Nijimura with the information, and had gotten a call in return in which they'd talked through a plan. 

While Kuroko usually wasn't revenge-driven, he had to admit the idea of paying the other Miracles back for all the pain he'd been put through due to them _did_ sound wonderful. 

And he figured that Nijimura knew that, which is exactly why he'd offered the idea up. 

And well, at least this way he'd hopefully find his love for basketball again at the same time. He couldn't argue that there wasn't really a way for him to lose a damn thing.

* * *

It wasn't as hard to deal with being part of Seirin's team as it had been Teiko's, which Kuroko was grateful for. 

Sure, some of the reactions to his lack of presence were annoying - _honestly, he'd been there the entire time, what's there to yell about?_ \- but outside of that, it was a total 180 and he was grateful for that. 

His family was quite happy to hear he'd joined the basketball team, as well, which was always a plus. 

He just hoped he got his passion back for it somewhere along the line so he could truly enjoy it.

Seeing as practices didn't really start for roughly two weeks following the initial meeting, he settled into going to the outdoor court to practice and play around with ideas during spare time. 

It was on one of these evenings that someone startled him by approaching him. "Want someone to play against to help?"

Kuroko let the ball fall from his grip, blinking at the male that had found his way in front of Kuroko. He narrowed his eyes, then offered the barest smile he could and agreed.

Of course, he hadn't expected for them to _talk_ to one another while they were playing, aside from offering names. 

So he was caught a bit off guard when Mayuzumi spoke up. 

"Your head is too clouded for this right now,"

Kuroko paused, half of his being focused on dribbling while the other half was focused on staring at Mayuzumi and trying to understand what had just happened. 

He was right, of course, but that wasn't the point.

* * *

Kuroko returned to school the following day with a new number in his phone and someone offering to listen if he needed to just vent. 

It was a strange feeling, but not one he was completely opposed to. 

Aside from their respective practice times - Mayuzumi had told him that he was part of the basketball team for Rakuzan and had exchanged practice schedules with Kuroko to avoid incidents that could cause problems - the two communicated quite frequently, meeting periodically when they didn't feel much like texting. 

While they got their start with playing basketball, it was quick to change to them sitting about somewhere discussing books - something Kuroko enjoyed much more than he cared to admit. 

What he didn't like as much was the fact that his new friend was nothing if not observant, which led to questions that Kuroko wasn't ready to answer - ones which he was beginning to think he'd never be ready to answer because they hurt too much. 

And he supposed that Mayuzumi understood that, because aside from the initial question, he tried not to bring it up if he could avoid it. 

That said, Kuroko was beginning to notice that it was getting harder to maintain his careful emotionless mask around the gray haired male, especially so when he stayed so relaxed around him. 

There was no pressure to be anything, and it was a wonderful change to Kuroko. 

And with that relaxed air, Kuroko did start opening up a bit towards the end of their first week of constant meeting up - Mayuzumi was so careful to be attentive to what he was saying and offered calming words. 

He never told the other how much it meant to him - instead, it served to turn his hurt into a cold anger towards his old friends. Because honestly, this is what friends do, not push each other to the edge of horrific decisions and make them feel horrible. 

If anyone noticed the change in Kuroko, nobody said anything. 

Well, aside from some of his teammates remarking on him being more determined than usual when he allowed his anger to fuel his drive.

* * *

It wasn't but a week following that everything unraveled and the story came out to Mayuzumi. 

The two of them had been enjoying the nice weather during their free time, and Mayuzumi had started talking and Kuroko had immediately fallen silent to listen. 

"Honestly, though, he's the absolute worst, I have no clue why they'd let him be captain," 

Kuroko's lips quirked up for a moment at this remark. "Ah, I take it you're not fond of your captain, then? May I ask why, Mayuzumi-kun?"

Mayuzumi offered a small smile of his own at this prompting before he settled back into talking. "Because the guy has absolutely no redeeming qualities that I've seen besides his skill at the sport - even then, he's completely ridiculous in his requests during practice." he offered. "I pity his old teammates, honestly, because if he was anything like this to them, I can hardly imagine them being in any shape to play any longer."

"Your captain is a first year student?" Kuroko asked in surprise, dread filling him. 

Mayuzumi groaned in response, his masks collapsing in on themselves now that he was venting - it was a sight to behold, and any other time, Kuroko would've loved to truly appreciate his friend being so open with him like this. "He was Teiko's captain last year - Akashi Seijuurou."

"Ah.." Kuroko said, his tone becoming much more closed off and his mask snapping back into place at the name. 

Mayuzumi seemed to notice the shift despite not looking at Kuroko at the time, because he gave a semi-concerned look to the bluenette before his brow furrowed. "Are you quite alright?"

"I wouldn't pity the rest of his old teammates, Mayuzumi-kun," Kuroko offered, but his tone was icy. 

It was quiet for a moment, then Mayuzumi nodded and shifted to watch Kuroko. "You were part of his old team, weren't you?"

"I've no wish to be looped in with him, if you'd kindly not." Kuroko stated, giving his friend a cold warning look. "But yes, I was. I quit shortly before the season ended."

Mayuzumi took note of the look and hesitated for a moment before he decided to press further. "I take it that he wasn't very... kind?"

Kuroko debated for a second before he groaned and decided to just tell him - and boy, he could see the anger flash in Mayuzumi's eyes as he spoke. 

He said nothing when Kuroko stopped talking, just patted his shoulder and moved to a lighter topic. 

But Kuroko had to admit, it felt wonderful to let it all out like that.

* * *

They stopped meeting as frequently once the season kicked off and they had to get serious about their playing, but they kept in contact. 

There were times that Kuroko would send funny little stories from his own team to cheer Mayuzumi up because he knew the older male was going to be having a shitty time with Akashi as his captain. 

By the time it came down to a practice match, Kuroko had already let his anger fuel him learning new tricks and working out how to pass to every single member on Seirin's team he possibly could. 

And so, it came easily, beating Kise in the practice match. 

He just hated the kicked puppy look he gained from the blond once he had. 

He only took notice of it for a moment, then he turned his back and headed towards the Seirin team, giving them a small smile. 

Riko was giving him a strange look - Kuroko had been very different on the court than he usually was with them, and it didn't really add up. But she decided against asking questions pretty immediately once the familiar warmth was back in his eyes when he saw them. 

Of course, it faded again when Kise spoke, letting Riko know it was something to do with the blond. 

"Kurokocchi!"

Kuroko paused his trek back to the others to look over his shoulder with a hard mask on, meeting golden eyes for a moment before he spoke. "Don't you have anything better to do, Kise-kun?"

And with this brush off, he left the gym before the other could recover enough to reply. 

Kise's team shared looks with one another - it might not register with the airhead of a teammate of theirs, but they'd heard the icy tone loud and clear. 

Riko was quick to end things pleasantly and usher the rest of her team out before anyone could ask questions that they couldn't answer. 

None of them brought it up to Kuroko, though. If it was just a one time thing, then it would be pointless to bring it up at all.

* * *

The next of the Miracles that they meet is Midorima, at the Interhigh tournament.

And immediately, there was a key off to the rest of the Seirin team that something just wasn't right. 

Kuroko had spent the other games - the ones against those without a Miracle on their team - in a state of cool indifference towards the players despite him playing his hardest against them. 

He'd been ever so slightly more open during those games, and seemed to be having fun. 

But this time, as soon as Kuroko looked up from his phone to see Midorima in front of him before line up, they saw his icy mask go back into place. 

"...Kuroko, you alright?" Kagami asked warily, eying his friend. 

Kuroko looked back to Kagami and offered the barest smile through his mask. "Can you give us a moment, Kagami-kun?"

Kagami seemed ready to argue, but Hyuuga pulled on his arm, leading him away and offering an understanding smile to the blue haired Phantom, allowing him his space with Midorima to talk. 

Midorima watched the scene before his eyes flickered back down to meet Kuroko's cold blue ones. He hesitated, however, because he had never been on the best terms with the smaller boy as it was. 

Kuroko seemed okay with letting him have a moment to get his head around what he wanted to say, texting while he waited and only occasionally looking up. 

Once he'd worked out what he wanted to say, he let Kuroko finish what he was typing and hit send before he spoke, not wishing to interrupt the other's train of thought in his own private conversation. "Perhaps I should have done this sooner," he started, capturing Kuroko's attention easily. "I wanted to... apologize,"

"How nice," Kuroko deadpanned, giving Midorima a calculating look. 

It seemed that the bare minimum of what Midorima could figure out to say to try to mend a little bit of what friendship they'd had at Teiko was enough for the phantom to understand what he was actually saying.

Kuroko glanced at his phone again when it alerted him to a new message before he looked back up at Midorima. "I appreciate the effort," he offered, his voice still just as cold as before - perhaps moreso than it had been at Teiko when he resigned from their team in third year. "But I can't accept your apologies, Midorima-kun. I'll see you on the court,"

Midorima didn't call him back as he walked away, just watched for a moment before he gave a small smile of acknowledgement before he turned to return to his own team. 

He had to admit, the two of them had always been skilled in communicating with the bare minimum. He looked forward to playing against Kuroko, and honestly? He didn't blame him one bit for not wanting to accept his apology. 

"Everything alright, Kuroko?" Riko asked when Kuroko rejoined them. 

Kuroko offered her a small smile in response and nodded in agreement. 

"What was that about?" Kagami asked, giving Kuroko a strange look. 

"Midorima-kun and I aren't close," Kuroko deadpanned, then redirected the conversation easily to the upcoming match.

* * *

The actual match left the Seirin team in a state of shock - they hadn't seen that much of a cold attitude on the court from Kuroko since the practice match against Kaijou

Hyuuga shared a look with Izuki once the second quarter had ended as they headed back to their assigned change room. 

"How about," Hyuuga started as soon as they were all settling down. "After this game ends, you tell us what's eating at you, Kuroko?"

Kuroko gave him a strange look in response. "Nothing's 'eating at me', Hyuuga-san."

Hyuuga went to argue, but Kagami cut across him, staring at his friend in surprise. "Maybe not, but something's obviously going on between you and your old teammates that's affecting how you act around them, and it's throwing the rest of us off. Just fill us in after the game, yeah?"

Kuroko shrugged, but agreed regardless, letting them settle about working their plan for the next half of the game.

* * *

Of course, he spent the next half of the game giving a lot of thought to what he was going to tell his team after the game - he still had plenty of focus on the actual game itself, but he couldn't help but let it drift a little sometimes.

So he found himself both glad and slightly frustrated when the game ended before he'd figured it all out. 

He gave a nod to the other team, though his eyes narrowed slightly at Midorima.

Midorima only gave a small, understanding smile at the action and spoke before he left. "I know what I did, don't worry,"

Kuroko was left staring after him in surprise for a moment before he shook himself from his thoughts and joined the others.

* * *

Even so, they didn't get the story until their next practice, which gave Kuroko time to call Mayuzumi about it all and update him on what had happened, as well as just get a distraction in the form of hearing about the latest book he'd picked up. 

And honestly, the story wasn't as annoying to tell the second time around since he was able to keep his emotions carefully in check the entire time he spoke to his teammates about it. Though, that may be due to the fact that he wasn't telling them everything, not yet.

The silence that fell following it was deafening, though, and only broke when Hyuuga let out a dangerously annoyed huff. 

"Well, it's no wonder you're so different when you're sharing a court with them then!"

Kuroko watched with fond eyes as the others jumped into the conversation - all of them defending his actions rather than the actions of the other Miracles. 

It was Riko who finally brought up the pressing issue. "So, what exactly did Midorima want with you, then?"

"To apologize," Kuroko said simply. "He seems to understand why what friendship we had is in ruins and wanted to apologize, which was a first."

"Did you accept it?" Kagami questioned, genuinely curious despite his apprehension. 

Kuroko shook his head in response.

* * *

Practice carried on without any issue for the next while following that, though the Seirin members understood Kuroko much better than they had before. 

At least, they understood far better now than they had previously as to why Kuroko was working so hard at improving his skills. 

However, they got to see a new side to Kuroko before their match against Touou. 

While it was true that he was warming up to them quite a bit more than he had before they knew about the Generation of Miracles mess, seeing him actively get out of the pool during training to talk to Moimoi with a small smile and bright eyes startled them. 

Riko threw the two a strange look, but kept training going regardless, knowing that Kuroko would make up the training he missed on his own time - he always did extra on his own regardless, so she wasn't concerned in the slightest. 

She did, however, keep an ear out on the conversation. 

As such, she got to hear Moimoi's complaint ridden comments about Aomine, which Kuroko seemed both amused and annoyed by - though Riko could tell the annoyance wasn't directed at the pink haired girl in the slightest. 

"We're really looking forward to facing your team," Kuroko offered once Moimoi had stopped talking, offering her a warm smile again as she made a small, excited noise at the reminder that they'd be facing against one another soon. "Make sure they don't slack off against us, or they'll only have themselves to blame when they lose."

"You sound sure you're going to win, Testu-kun," Moimoi remarked, her tone teasing and light, but carrying to the rest of the team. 

Kuroko looked down for a moment before shaking his head. "Only if your team slacks off and underestimates us will out victory be guaranteed. I have faith in my team's skills, but I know that if Aomine-kun is playing seriously, it will be a fight."

Moimoi hummed in agreement, but didn't say anything further on the topic

* * *

When the rest of Seirin met Aomine the first time, they understood why Moimoi had so many complaints and why Kuroko had treated his name with a greater level of disdain than Kise or Midorima. 

The guy was a special level of full of himself, and so they had taken care to take Kuroko's lead and treat the Touou team with a considerably higher amount of caution than they had any of the other teams they had faced before. 

And as icing on the cake, Moimoi had taken Kuroko's advice, which meant the entire team was at their best and playing seriously. 

It was a dangerous predicament for them, but none of them had it in them to be worried. 

After all, Kuroko didn't seem concerned and he was the one who knew Aomine's play style. If he was confident they had a shot, then they weren't too worried over what could happen between the beginning of the game and the end of it. 

Either way, they'd have fun playing. 

Hyuuga seemed amused when he saw how hard Kuroko was playing, but his amusement didn't stay long - mostly it was just there long enough for him to point out to the others just how stubborn Kuroko seemed this game as opposed to the other games they'd played, even against the other Miracles they'd faced so far. 

Of course, when they ended the game with Touou more than doubling their score, it was a bit of a damper on everyone - well, everyone besides Kuroko, who treated the loss as just a minor setback and moved on no problem. 

Which eventually led to his annoyance with his team. 

Sure, he understood that they were put out and upset by their defeat, but they had two games after Touou that they lost due to Kuroko being the only one who had their head in the game in the slightest.

* * *

He got a message as he arrived as his practice the next day - not that they'd actually be practicing first thing, so he wasn't worried about answering it. 

He almost smiled to see a message from Mayuzumi - the two had been busy with their separate practices and games, and so they'd fallen out of contact due to their schedules never meshing well enough. 

_'Heard about your team losing, I'm surprised you didn't kill one or more of them,'_

Kuroko offered a quiet greeting to his teammates as he settled down, texting Mayuzumi back with a quick update on what had been going on as well as asking after the other's life since they hadn't been able to talk. 

He only put his phone away when Riko started talking to everyone, deciding he would continue his conversation after practice.

* * *

Kuroko's first impression of Kiyoshi was that he was determined, if a bit too positive for his taste. 

He appreciated the change of pace

At any rate, it couldn't be any worse than dealing with Kise.

He very nearly changed his indifferent acceptance once Kiyoshi started trying to help him - it wasn't as if he didn't know his style of basketball had limits, playing on Teiko's team had taught him that, but he didn't want or need someone else pointing it out to him. 

Especially not from someone who was remidning him harshly of the other Miracles.

But he supposed he could deal with that, considering he knew Kiyoshi was doing it to try to genuinely help him. 

That didn't keep him from talking to Mayuzumi about it when the elder called him that night.

It served to amuse the other for a while then his tone mellowed out. 

" _Have you thought about explaining your past with the other Miracles to your team yet_?"

Kuroko sighed quietly in response. "I need to, but I'd honestly prefer not to tell them," he admitted. 

Mayuzumi let it drop with a soft 'text me when you do, because we both know you'll have to eventually.'

No argument came in response to those words.

* * *

Kuroko decided shortly after training camp was announced that it was time to tell them and messaged Mayuzumi as he walked to practice, receiving only a smiley emoticon in answer, but it made him feel better regardless - it was a silent offer of support. 

Once he entered the gym, he spoke up, catching everyone's attention.

"Could we delay practice long enough to talk? I need to explain a few things."

Riko blinked at the phantom before an understanding smile showed up and she agreed. 

Kuroko learned fast that it was far more intimidating to tell his teammates about the Miracles and his past with them than it had been to tell Mayuzumi. 

Mostly because they were quicker to offer an emotional reaction to his words. 

Silence lasted a while once Kuroko stopped talking, allowing everyone time to process and calm down a little. 

Aside from their anger, they didn't offer a reaction like Kuroko feared they would. But that anger almost scared him. 

"At least it explains your behavior," Riko mused, then immediately switched gears into practice.

* * *

The training camp itself was nice, Kuroko thought. It offered them plenty of chances for improvement. 

What he didn't like were the practice games they played against Shutoku.

He had hoped for a break from the other Miracles and their teams. 

But he supposed he could deal since it was Midorima - by far the one he was least angry with when put into consideration. At least he wasn't as pushy as Kise or Aomine would've been. 

It went a long way in gaining points back wiht Kuroko to keep that respectful distance. 

At any rate, it served as motivation for Kuroko to up his game, especially after seeing Midorima help Kagami.

* * *

Kuroko honestly should have expected things to become complicated once Riko agreed to let the first years play in a streetball tournament. 

Especially so when Kiyoshi joined them. 

So he didn't like the current situation, in which he had just been blind sided by Kagami's "brother". 

Sure, Himuro was nice enough, he supposed. But he was causing Kagami to get riled up, which annoyed him. 

As such, he did his best to stay near the grounding energy that was Mayuzumi as he watched the entire scene. 

"You don't look worried," Mayuzumi remarked as he watched Kuroko's careful lack of reaction. 

Kuroko shrugged in response, though his gaze stayed on Himuro and the rest of the opposing team. "It's just for fun, so why should I be nervous?"

Mayuzumi huffed in annoyance at that. "Because you made me come out here for 'moral support' on a day I could spend reading, since I didn't have practice with Mr. I'm-Never-Wrong?" he grumbled. "At least have the decency to pretend, damn it."

* * *

Of course, when Murasakibara showed up looking for Himuro, Mayuzumi saw Kuroko's well-crafted mask snap into place and immediately hummed, just loud enough for Kuroko to hear and understand that they could leave if he wanted. 

Kuroko just tilted his head in acknowledgement of this, but didn't otherwise react. 

Mayuzumi took note, with increasing fondness for Kuroko's teammates, that as soon as Murasakibara said he would crush the bluenette, Kagami and Kiyoshi both stepped a little closer in defensive stances. 

He also noticed the dark look in Himuro's eyes directed as his own teammate.

* * *

Mayuzumi had to admit he was glad the rainstorm ended the game before it got serious. 

It was almost scary to see Kuroko face against another Miracle, but it also left Mayuzumi feeling almost... excited?

In the little time they spent together following the failed streetball game, Kuroko warmed back up and offered little updates. 

Mayuzumi only really reacted to Kuroko explaining that Midorima was working towards his old self - including taking time from basketball to have some form of a social life.

When asked to explain, Kuroko had simply pulled up his text conversation with Moimoi and handed his phone over. 

The two parted ways with well wishes for each other, knowing they likely wouldn't talk much with Winter Cup coming up.

* * *

Once the preliminaries for Winter Cup began, everyone could see Kuroko immediately change gears - it still surprised them when Kuroko became serious so suddenly, but it set the pace. 

Even so, they noticed he played harder against Shutoku, though his icy mask had melted slightly. 

They hadn't expected the tie, but they'd take what they could get, honestly. 

Midorima passed along his well wishes to Kuroko and the rest of Seirin through Takao and moved on without hesitation.

* * *

It didn't become clear why until Hyuuga explained the past with Kirisaki Daiichi, then Midorima's warning to be careful came through the near-cold wishes of good luck

Kuroko looked forward to it, until he saw what the other team was doing. 

Oh, the foul play didn't faze him in the slightest, but when Kiyoshi hit the floor, bruised up pretty evenly, he saw a dull shade of red that only sharpened when Kiyoshi forced himself up to _protect the rest of them_. 

The longer the game went, the more Kuroko let his spiked anger fuel his movement. 

He honestly wasn't even surprised to find Mayuzumi at Seirin's change room, looking surprisingly concerned after Seririn had won. 

The gray haired male was quick to wrap his own team's jacket around Kuroko and start talking. 

"Quite the show from your Iron Heart, wasn't it?"

Kuroko hummed. "He made quite the statememnt out there, and I appreciate it,"

Kiyoshi pretended not to hear this as he passed the two and entered the change room, but Kuroko noticed the smile he gave regardless. 

"Try not to lose until you face us?" Mayuzumi asked, looking to Kuroko expectantly. 

Kuroko offered a faint smile. "Same to you, Mayuzumi-kun," he responded, his tone holding a fondness the other Seirin members enjoyed hearing directed to someone besides them.

* * *

Immediately after the Opening Ceremony for the Winter Cup, Kuroko almost groaned in complaint when he saw the message from Akashi, summoning him to meet with the other Miracles. 

"I have to go, I'll be back," Kuroko told his teammates. 

"Who exactly does the guy think he is, the Dark Lord Voldemort?" Izuki remarked, far from amused. 

Kuroko smiled faintly. "God is a closer guess," he countered, then walked away. 

As he headed to the meeting point, his phone went off with another message - this time from Mayuzumi. 

' _Akashi said he was calling all of your old team. I'm sorry I couldn't warn you before he messaged you. Good luck!_ '

Kuroko shook his head, amused by his friend's surprisingly hopeful nature.

* * *

"Tetsuya, you're late." Akashi remarked as Kuroko approached. 

"My obligation is to my team, Akashi-kun, I refuse to drop what I'm doing with them to answer your call like a puppy."

Midorima hid his smile at the deadpan remark, ignoring the surprise that flickered across Akashi's face for a moment. 

The rest of their meeting was quick, Kuroko not speaking again throughout it. 

Once he'd walked off, a new voice interrupted the lingering conversations. 

"You realize you're the ones who caused him to act like this, right?"

Akashi looked behind him to see Mayuzumi at the very top of the steps. "What, exactly, are you implying, Chihiro?"

Mayuzumi stared at his captain before glancing at the others. "You hurt him enough to turn him cold and make him hate not only basketball, but all of you as well."

Silence fell, and Mayuzumi had to admit, it was amusing to see the stricken expressions on almost all of their faces - Midorima didn't look surprised, but Mayuzumi had already suspected the other had an idea of what they'd done to the phantom.

* * *

The change was immediately noticed once the Touou game started - while Aomine and his team still played as hard as possible against Seirin, causing the score to be scarily close, Kuroko noticed that the usual mood was dampened. 

He didn't stick around after the game to let Aomine try to talk to him, just gave a strange look and walked away. 

Hyuuga watched this before sharing a strange look with Kiyoshi, who nodded for him to go catch up with Kuroko before approaching Aomine to question him as to what was going on.

* * *

"Your friend told them what they did," Kiyoshi told Kuroko as he entered the change room to join the others after his conversation with Touou's ace. 

Kuroko stared at him for a moment before he sighed and tilted his head in a nod, then offered a small smile in thanks. "I was wondering why he was so off,"

* * *

The Yosen game bothered Kuroko before it even got started - not only were they about to face Murasakibara, which he hadn't looked forward to as it was, but they were also facing Himuro and Kuroko still hadn't figured out how he was supposed to feel about the entire mess between him and Kagami, but he could honestly say he was sick of their own personal competition. 

But he supposed he could run damage control through Kagami after the game was over, so he didn't worry over it. 

The game wasn't something Kuroko enjoyed in the slightest - he was glad that Murasakibara viewed them as a big enough challenge to actually play seriously, with none of Aomine's near-uncertainty. 

But he also was just ready to have the game over. 

He decided as soon as the game ended and Seirin had won - by a single point, which was a scary thought, once again - that if all of the games against another Miracle would end like this, he'd rather not face the last two opponents. 

Though he was excited by it, because when and if they faced Rakuzan and Akashi, he'd get to play against Mayuzumi.

That was probably the only thing that got him through the next game, too, because when Kise finally managed his Perfect Copy move for the other Miracles, Kuroko knew they were going to be in for the fight of their lives and he honestly didn't have the patience to deal with it. 

But at least Kise had enough sense - and his team helped reign him in so he couldn't be stupid - not to try to talk to Kuroko once the game had ended. 

He supposed he should thank Mayuzumi, as well as the rest of the Kaijou team.

* * *

That night, he got a message from Mayuzumi. 

_'Tomorrow, you face us. Good luck to you and your team! Let's get milkshakes after, no matter the outcome, alright?'_

Kuroko smiled fondly at his phone screen as he replied with a positive response, then settled to sleep.

* * *

He almost began hating Riko for insisting that they get there early the next day, but then Kuroko supposed it gave them time to talk and get their bearings. 

Which, Kuroko mused, would help in facing Akashi. 

He watched from the back as his teammates looked around absently - while they were getting used to the area, it was still rather disorienting to see it relatively empty at that point. 

"Do you have a moment, Kuro?" 

Kuroko blinked, turning to look behind him only to see Nijimura and... Himuro. 

Everyone else had turned as well, giving Kuroko a strange look for answering to the nickname so suddenly. 

Kuroko was quiet for a moment, frowning at Nijimura in confusion. "Of course, as long as you tell me what brought you out here despite you not playing anymore," he offered, giving a small smile following his words. 

Nijimura gave an amused huff of breath before motioning towards Himuro. "I have someone I'd like you to meet,"

Kuroko's eyes flickered to Himuro, his guard going back up as he debated telling his old captain that the two had already met, but when Nijimura introduced Himuro as his boyfriend, he blinked before a smile showed up. 

"It's a pleasure to meet you," he offered to Himuro, who just smiled and rolled with it without hesitation. 

Kagami gave the entire interaction a strange look, but didn't seem concerned about it. 

Riko was the one who interrupted the conversation, clearing her throat to get Kuroko's attention. "...who's this, Kuroko?"

Kuroko blinked at her for a moment, not seeming to understand what she was asking. 

Nijimura gave a low chuckle in response to the phantom's confusion before he spoke, addressing Riko. "Nijimura Shuuzou," he offered. "I was captain at Teiko when Kuro first joined the team."

Riko nodded her understanding. "I apologize for interrupting, we just don't see Kuroko being so... social with people outside the team very often,"

This got an understanding hum and the apology being waved away. 

Himuro murmured something to Nijimura before he disappeared off to the stands, and as soon as he was out of hearing range, Nijimura spoke up again. "You're facing Akashi and his team today. I hope all of you are ready, because it isn't going to be an easy game - if there's any postivie about Akashi, it's that he pushes his teammates to their best abilities relentlessly."

Kuroko didn't offer a verbal response, but amusement did flicker across his face for a moment. 

"Best of luck," Nijimura said, going to walk away before he paused and looked back to Kuroko. "By the way, Kuro, I've heard talk of you having a friend on the Rakuzan team. You'll have to introduce him to me sometime,"

Kuroko nodded in agreement, and the elder walked away to let them begin getting ready for the game.

* * *

Nijimura's words stuck with them, and Kuroko was quite proud of his teammates for handling everything thrown their way in stride with very little fumbling. 

Of course, the actual game went downhill rather quickly once Akashi got annoyed and started talking. 

And the others from Seirin on the court almost winced when they heard the red head call Mayuzumi the equivilent of a replacement. 

While they had to admit that Kuroko and him possessed abilities that were scary to see working against one another, there was definitely no need for something like that. 

And so, Kagami met Kuroko's eyes before darting off behind Akashi. 

Mayuzumi watched in amusement at Kuroko's next pass - the first one to really work, and that was probably solely due to the blindsiding via Akashi's harsh words - flew barely an inch away from the side of Akashi's head.

* * *

When the game finally came to an end, everyone was exhausted. 

Kuroko looked up when Akashi spoke, extending a hand to him. 

He met eyes that had finally faded away from their heterochromatic state, but shook his head. "Do not _ever_ let me hear of you calling someone a replacement for anyone or anything ever again, Akashi-kun," he warned coldly, then walked passed him to go check on Mayuzumi, who was looking a little worse for wear emotionally. 

Akashi stared after him in surprise, not having expected the snub, but nodded his understanding as he watched Kuroko settle into his warmer personality with Mayuzumi. 

As soon as they could leave the court, Akashi headed off.

* * *

Nijimura wound up dragging Himuro along with him when he decided last-minute to join Kuroko and Mayuzumi for milkshakes in celebration of the Winter Cup being over. 

"I don't know what Akashi said, but whatever it was, I hope he's never that moronic again, I actually thought that pass was going to slam into the side of his head," Nijimura remarked once they had settled down after getting milkshakes. 

Kuroko hummed his agreement. "He shouldn't be, considering his own team refused to back him up,"

"That is one thing I'll miss about that team," Mayuzumi mused quietly. "Aside from our... lovely captain, they're all very warm and are great at looking out for one another,"

Kuroko laughed. "You survived an entire season with Akashi-kun as a captain, Mayuzumi-kun! Even I couldn't do that," he offered, trying to get the other to pep up a bit more. 

Nijimura smiled fondly at the scene before he looked over at Himuro. "Did you work everything out with that 'brother' of yours?"

Himuro nodded his agreement. 

When they parted ways, Kuroko pretended not to see the quick kiss Nijimura stole, though he had to admit it was a nice change to see his old captain that happy - he hadn't even been that happy in middle school. 

Mayuzumi walked with him for a while once the other two had disappeared off to their own homes. "It's finally over,"  
Kuroko nodded his agreement. 

"Do you feel any better?" Mayuzumi asked after a beat of silence. "Did it help to face against them?"

"..I doubt I'll ever be ready to forgive them, but... I suppose that I can admit they've made a lot of progress." Kuroko offered, smiling over at Mayuzumi. "Tell me when your graduation is?"

Mayuzumi made a noise of complaint, but sighed in resignation not a moment later. "I'll let you know. Tell your old captain to stay in touch, because I know I'm going to have stories to take to him, because he's likely going to be closer to where you are to run damage control when I can't,"

No argument came after that, so Mayuzumi gave a quiet laugh.

Once they split ways, Kuroko had to admit, he hadn't felt this light in a while, though he couldn't really complain about it.


End file.
